Book of Common Prayer
To the Director of music: A Psalm. A song.
A Song of Praise to God
68 God arises,
and his enemies are scattered.
Those who hate him flee from his presence.[a]
2 As smoke is driven away, so you drive them away.
As wax melts in the presence of fire,
so the wicked die in the presence of God.
3 But the righteous rejoice and exult before God;
they are overwhelmed with joy.
4 Sing to God!
Sing praise to his name!
Exalt the one who rides on the clouds.
The Lord is his name.
Be jubilant in his presence.
5 A father to orphans and an advocate for widows
is God in his holy dwelling place.
6 God causes the lonely to dwell in families.[b]
He leads prisoners into prosperity,
but rebels live on parched land.
7 God, when you led out your people,
when you marched through the desert,
8 the land quaked.
Indeed, the heavens poured down rain
from the presence of God,
this God of Sinai,
from the presence of God,
the God of Israel.
9 God, you poured out abundant rain on your inheritance.
When Israel[c] was weary, you sustained her.
10 Your people live[d] there;
you sustain the needy[e] with your goodness, God.
11 The Lord issues a command.
Numerous are the women who announce the news:
12 “Kings of armies retreat and flee,
while the lady of the house divides the spoil.
13 When you men lie down among the sheepfolds,
you are like[f] the wings of the dove covered with silver,
with its feathers in glittering gold.”
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings there,
there was snow on Mt. Zalmon.
15 The mountain of God is as the mountain of Bashan;
a mountain of many peaks is Mount Bashan.
16 You mountains of many peaks, why do you watch with envy
the mountain in which God has chosen to dwell?
Indeed, the Lord will live there forever.
17 God’s chariots were many thousands.
The Lord was there with them at Sinai in holiness.
18 You ascended to the heights,
you took captives.
You received gifts among mankind,
even the rebellious,
so the Lord God may live there.[g]
19 Blessed be the Lord who daily carries us.
God is our deliverer.
20 God is for us the God of our deliverance.
The Lord God rescues us from death.
21 God surely strikes the heads of his enemies,
even the hairy heads of those who continue in their guilt.
22 The Lord says, “From Bashan I will bring them,
I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
23 that your feet may wade through blood.
The tongues of your dogs will have their portions
from your enemies.”
24 They have observed your processions, God,
the processions of my God,
my king, in the sanctuary.
25 The singers are in front,
the musicians follow,
strumming their stringed instruments
among the maidens who are playing their tambourines.
26 Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord who is the fountain of Israel.
27 Little Benjamin is there, leading them,
and the princes of Judah all together
with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 Summon the power of your God,
the power, God, that you have shown us.
29 Because of your Temple in Jerusalem,
kings bring tribute to you.
30 Rebuke the wildlife that lives among the reeds,
the nations that congregate like bulls and cows,
humbling themselves with pieces of silver,
for God[h] scatters the nations that delight in battle.
31 Envoys will come from Egypt.
Let the Ethiopians stretch out their hands to God.
32 You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God!
Sing praises to the Lord,
33 to the one who rides the heavens, the ancient heavens.
Behold! He thunders with a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power to God, whose glory is over Israel,
whose power is in the skies.
35 You are awesome, God, from your sanctuaries.
The God of Israel is the one
who gives strength and power to the people.
Blessed be God!
Solomonic
A Prayer for the King
72 God, endow the king with ability to render[a] your justice,
and the king’s son to render your right decisions.
2 May he rule your people with right decisions
and your oppressed ones with justice.
3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people
and the hills bring righteousness.
4 May he defend the afflicted of the people
and deliver the children of the poor,
but crush the oppressor.
5 May they fear you as long as the sun and moon shine[b]—
from generation to generation.
6 May he be like the rain that descends on mown grass,
like showers sprinkling on the ground.
7 The righteous will flourish at the proper time
and peace will prevail until the moon is no more.
8 May he rule from sea to sea,
from the Euphrates River[c] to the ends of the earth.
9 May the nomads bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring gifts,
and may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer tribute.
11 May all kings bow down to him,
and all nations serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy when they cry out for help,
and the poor when there is no deliverer.
13 He will have compassion on the poor and the needy,
and he will save the lives of the needy.
14 He will redeem them[d] from oppression and violence,
since their lives are[e] precious in his sight.
Prayer for the King
15 May he live long and be given gold from Sheba,
and may prayer be offered for him continuously,
and may he be blessed every day.
16 May grain be abundant in the land
all the way[f] to the mountain tops;
may its fruits flourish
like the forests of Lebanon,
and may the cities sprout
like the grass of the earth.
Praising the God of Israel
17 May his fame[g] be eternal—
as long as the sun—
may his name endure,
and may they be blessed through him,
and may all nations call him blessed.
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does awesome deeds.
19 And blessed be his glorious name forever,
and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and amen!
20 This ends the prayers of Jesse’s son David.
Elijah Talks to God at Horeb
9 Elijah[a] arrived at a cave and stayed there. All of a sudden this message came from the Lord: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 “I’ve been very zealous for the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,” he replied. “The Israelis have abandoned your covenant, demolished your altars, executed your prophets with swords, and I—that’s right, just me!—am the only one left. Now they’re seeking my life, to get rid of me!”
11 “Go out,” he responded, “and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord.” And there was the Lord, passing by! A tremendous, mighty windstorm was tearing at the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces in the presence of the Lord, but the Lord was not in the windstorm. After the wind there came an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there came fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 As soon as Elijah heard it, he covered his face in his mantle, went outside, and stood at the entrance to the cave. And there a voice spoke to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 “I’ve been very zealous for the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,” he replied. “The Israelis have abandoned your covenant, demolished your altars, executed your prophets with swords, and I—that’s right, just me!—am the only one left. Now they’re seeking my life, to get rid of me!”
15 The Lord replied to him, “Go! Return to Damascus, and when you get there, anoint Hazael as king over Aram, 16 anoint Nimshi’s son Jehu as king over Israel, and anoint Shaphat’s son Elisha from Abel-meholah as a prophet to replace you. 17 Whoever escapes from Hazael’s sword Jehu will execute, and whoever escapes from Jehu’s sword Elisha will put to death. 18 Nevertheless, I’ve reserved 7,000 in Israel who have neither bowed their knees to Baal nor kissed him.”
The Old Life and the New
17 Therefore, I tell you and insist on[a] in the Lord not to live any longer like the gentiles live, thinking worthless thoughts.[b] 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. 19 Since they have lost all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to sensuality and practice every kind of sexual perversion without restraint. 20 However, that is not the way you came to know the Messiah.[c] 21 Surely you have listened to him and have been taught by him, since truth is in Jesus. 22 Regarding your former way of life, you were taught[d] to strip off your old nature, which is being ruined by its deceptive desires, 23 to be renewed in your mental attitude, 24 and to clothe yourselves with the new nature, which was created according to God’s image[e] in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Therefore, stripping off falsehood, “let each of us speak the truth to his neighbor,”[f] for we belong to one another. 26 “Be angry, yet do not sin.”[g] Do not let the sun set while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the Devil an opportunity to work.[h] 28 The thief must no longer steal but must work hard and do what is good with his own hands, so that he might earn something to give to the needy.
29 Let no filthy talk be heard from your mouths, but only what is good for building up people and meeting the need of the moment.[i] This way you will administer grace to those who hear you. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and slander be put away from you, along with all hatred. 32 And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you[j] in the Messiah.[k]
15 Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew[a] again to the hillside by himself.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(A)
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already fallen, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A strong wind was blowing, and the sea was getting rough. 19 After they had rowed about 25 or 30 stadia,[b] they saw Jesus walking on the sea toward their boat. They became terrified. 20 But he told them, “It is I. Stop being afraid!” 21 So they were glad to take him on board, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
Jesus the Bread of Life
22 The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea noticed that only one boat had been there, and no other, and that Jesus had not gotten into that boat with his disciples. Instead, his disciples had gone away by themselves. 23 Other small boats from Tiberias arrived near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.[c] 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into these boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus.
25 When they had found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi,[d] when did you get here?”
26 Jesus replied to them, “Truly, I tell all of you[e] emphatically, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were completely satisfied. 27 Do not work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him.”
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.